Citizenship poll – Vote must be deferred to ease division

ANY lingering doubts about the divisive nature of combining the citizenship referendum with the elections on June 11 evaporated yesterday as the Government sought to defend its position in the Dáil.

Charges of whipping up racist fears were hurled across the chamber as deputies returned from their Easter holidays to debate this vexed issue.

Arguably, the sense of urgency behind the Government’s insistence on mending a legal loophole is not borne out by the statistics.

In Dublin hospitals, last year, some 23% of births were to non-nationals while the Southern Health Board figure for non-national births in Cork and Kerry hospitals was 17%. But, crucially, it is not clear how many were born to women dubbed by Justice Minister Micheal McDowell as “citizenship tourists” pursuing Irish passports for children born here.

A referendum is necessary to prevent the system being abused. But the bitterness evident in the Dáil is a compelling reason for deferring and de-politicising this potentially racist question.